Hello everyone! I'm looking for a good topic for my master's thesis at university, but I have a tough time finding something related to game development

I'd like to come up with an idea myself and then refine it with my supervisor-to-be rather than simply ask for a "ready-made" topic I may not be into

Machine learning in GD is a hot topic

Yeah, unfortunately, I don't really like working on ML stuff... :( Even though I'm aware I'm going to cut off many candidate topics

I read about goal-oriented and utility-driven models for game AI, and they seem quite cool

Also, the concept of "systemic games" sounds very interesting to me, as it involves interaction with players and interaction among the internal systems ("everything can affect everything")

has anyone studied Dwarf Fortress and how its systems work?

lparchive.org/Dwarf-Fortress-Boatmurdered/Introduction

@Almo Well, I don't know, but sounds interesting! I wonder if I can generalise DF system workings for more general-purpose design approaches

I'd like to choose a topic that enables me to have a practical part, say, implementing a working library/solution for a particular problem in the domain

@liggiorgio Here's a presentation I gave a couple months ago for my master's. Currently dialing it in to a more concrete written proposal.

One of my colleagues is investigating using generative language models for NPC dialogue interactions.

Another colleague outlined what he sees as three areas of game development that could particularly benefit from new research...

The first area is things like, can you somehow take a description of a game's rules, and generate a spreadsheet of the player's (likely / range of) progression/earnings/etc. over time? I do this manually, but are there tools that could make it faster?

Right now I'm starting to read more about the domain of novelty search, which seems like it could have significant applications to game development, both in choices of mechanics and design of levels / challenges.

So there's a grab bag of interesting ideas in which you might find a spark of inspiration. 😁

Another area I contemplated was trying to improve the experience of learning game development. For instance, the system we use here on GDSE is not very beginner-friendly, and the kinds of tutorials you find when searching as a newbie are not very helpful. Could we design a new site/service/approach that better supports new learners in their first steps?